China unleashes fearsome new cyber-weapon: A very provocative meme
- Reference: 1606962188
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/12/03/china_australia_meme_incident/
- Source link:
The meme was tweeted last week by a Chinese foreign ministry official and aimed at Australia.
Sino-Australian relations have deteriorated in recent years as Beijing objected to Australia’s bans on Huawei, passing laws that cracked down on foreign interference in domestic politics, and the blocking of Chinese investments Down Under. Relations hit a new low in April 2020 when Australia led a push for an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 virus pandemic. Days after that call, China’s ambassador to Australia told journalists that Australia’s actions could mean Chinese consumers become less inclined to buy Australian wine or beef.
China has since initiated trade disputes with Australia, imposed tariffs on wine imports and declined to allow a substantial fleet of ships carrying Australian coal to unload their cargo.
Swedish ISP spanked for sexist 'distracted boyfriend' advert for developer jobs [1]READ MORE
Those actions are seen as calculated attempts to harm Australia’s economy by denying it access to China’s markets. China has also handed Australia a list of grievances it wants the nation to address – mostly by reversing policies – to restore the relationship.
Australia, meanwhile, is grappling with [2]a recent report
[3]PDF
on the conduct of its armed forces in Afghanistan that found Australian troops may have murdered up to 39 Afghans and committed other war crimes. Australia reveres its military, and the allegations are considered a stain on the nation’s history and reputation.So when China’s meme [4]depicted a doctored image of an Australian soldier with a knife to a child’s throat and used the caption, “Don’t be afraid, we are coming to bring you peace,” it did not go down well.
Australians from Prime Minister Scott Morrison down took exception to the faked imagery, and demanded an apology. Morrison’s Liberal party is adept at using web giant Tencent’s WeChat messaging service to reach Chinese Australians. The PM posted a message on WeChat defending his nation, and the service took it down on grounds that it violates its regulations.
Cale Brown, the US State Department deputy spokesperson, also took exception to Beijing's tweet.
We stand with our Australian partners in calling out [5]@MFA_China for spreading disinformation by fabricating an image of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. This is a new low, even for the Chinese Communist Party. — Cale Brown (@StateDeputySPOX) [6]December 2, 2020
Jake Sullivan, named as President-Elect Joe Biden’s national security advisor, signaled the incoming administration will back Australia.
The Australian people have made great sacrifices to protect freedom and democracy around the world. As we have for a century, America will stand shoulder to shoulder with our ally Australia and rally fellow democracies to advance our shared security, prosperity, and values. — Jake Sullivan (@jakejsullivan) [7]December 2, 2020
China, meanwhile, has refused to apologize or retract the tweet, and defended the meme as using art and satire to depict uncomfortable truths, and pointed out that’s just the sort of free speech that Western democracies treasure. The same China that censors the Tiananmen Square massacre.
The matter remains at an impasse, with neither nation budging, and Chinese ministers not taking calls from their Australian counterparts.
That China has been able to spark this incident with a single tweet and a meme aimed at a nation’s particular anxieties has not gone unnoticed. Nor has the fact that WeChat has helped stymie attempts at rebuttal. Some in Australia have also wondered if and why the nation appears to be spending more time debating China's reaction to the alleged war crimes than pondering the alleged crimes and how best to ensure they are properly investigated.
But social media is helping Australia in other ways. The [8]Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China , a group of 38 elected representatives from 18 nations, plus the European Union, has encouraged the world to drink more Australian wine even if that means less of their local tipples are consumed during the festive season.
[9]#SolidaritywithAustralia
🍷🇦🇺 [10]pic.twitter.com/u3ksj9v4YD — Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (@ipacglobal) [11]December 1, 2020
Seems like good advice to this Australian. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2018/09/27/swedish_isp_distracted_boyfriend/
[2] https://www.npr.org/2020/11/19/936536527/australian-special-forces-unlawfully-killed-39-in-afghanistan-new-report-says
[3] https://afghanistaninquiry.defence.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-11/IGADF-Afghanistan-Inquiry-Public-Release-Version.pdf
[4] https://twitter.com/zlj517/status/1333214766806888448
[5] https://twitter.com/MFA_China?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://twitter.com/StateDeputySPOX/status/1333965963126067201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[7] https://twitter.com/jakejsullivan/status/1334173397035741189?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[8] https://ipac.global/
[9] https://twitter.com/hashtag/SolidaritywithAustralia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[10] https://t.co/u3ksj9v4YD
[11] https://twitter.com/ipacglobal/status/1333668013283926016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
It gets better
The latest round of tit-for-tat involves China blocking ScoMo's WeChat (whatever that is) response because $reasons.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/social-media-platform-wechat-blocks-scott-morrison-s-message-to-chinese-citizens
My coat is the one with the bottle of Aussie wine in the pocket.
And of course Twatter wont take it down
::opens 2016 Redgate Sauvignon Blanc::
Fuck you, China.
Cheers, Australia. Nice plonk. Recommended :-)
Hypocrisy with Chinese Characteristics
Really, the Australian Government should have ignored this obvious trolling. The CCP's long history of double standards when it comes to human rights, foreign investment and even racism is no longer newsworthy. No regime with that much censorship can argue its legitimacy with a straight face; if the CCP and Winnie are so fantastic, they should able to stand a little dissent. Hong Kongers would be enthusiastic about closer ties to Beijing. It speaks volumes that any time the question of real freedom arises from Tianamen onwards, they're found wanting.
I'm just sorry for the distress this 'art' and the related international media coverage may have caused to the Afghan people and the families and the victims of the war crimes in the report.
Re: Hypocrisy with Chinese Characteristics
If China was just a moderately well behaved country it's possible that Taiwanese - being a pragmatic bunch - might vote for some kind of unification.
It's almost gone that way a few times in the last 30 years, but thankfully for me as a staunch independence advocate China can't help shooting itself in the foot. When the pro-Beijing nationalist KMT party were still in power things started to get very cozy. China tried to seal the deal by showing off some military hardware and hassling Taiwan's air defenses with the rather predictable results - even moderate and China-leaning Taiwanese were repulsed by these threats and our democratic opposition destroyed the KMT in elections.
As a former serving member I can only agree with the comments of Angus Cambell, our Chief of Defence Force, "Moral authority is an element of combat power. If we do not hold ourselves, on the battlefield, at least to standards we expect of our adversaries, we deprive ourselves of that moral authority, and that element of combat power. We are all diminished by it." Holding oneself to better the standards of the Taliban is a low bar... and we failed. What is alleged to have happened is rightly causing some soul searching in Australia. We will continue to prosecute those we can and do so openly.
Afghanistan's leadership commented on the revelations of the report in a diplomatic and constructive fashion, and they represent the justifiably agrieved parties.
China did not need to comment. That it chose to, through an semi-official open channel, and in such a deliberately confrontational way betrays its intent. Had the artist published this himself, which of course he cannot without CCP approval, then I might have accepted it. This is not the free speech of an individual, worthy of defence, but a cynical remark deliberately intended to exert politcal leverage. The hypocrisy of a "Free-speech" defence from a regime that will not accept any criticism of its own position in respect of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinxiang, Tibet, Spratly Is., or its program of political influence in foreign lands is outstanding.
My vote for Xi "Winnie" Jinping for dick of the year is in. Stolen from Mr. Trump at the last hurdle.
A well written account of what's going on
I wish Australia's newspapers were more like this...
You couldnt make it up
Nation that suppresses free speech defends its behaviour using argument of free speech.